Recent Congressional Actions On Medicare

As required by the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, House and Senate leaders yesterday introduced legislation proposed by the administration to respond to a Medicare funding warning issued by the program’s trustees last April. According to the administration, the legislation (H.R. 5480/S. 2662) takes an approach to strengthening Medicare that includes limits on means testing for Part D premiums and medical liability costs; improved health information technology and electronic medical records; transparency in price and quality information; and incentives for providers to deliver and Medicare beneficiaries to choose high-quality, low-cost health care. At the same time, the president’s fiscal year 2009 budget proposes more than $182 billion in cuts to the Medicare program over five years, $137 billion of which would come from hospitals.